Friday, September 16, 2011

Back to Training

Since Sunday's half-marathon, I've only run once (3.25 miles). I suppose I could argue that I needed the break, but I have another half on Oct. 9, so I hate to take the time off. I've been exhausted this week - despite getting more sleep than normal. Guess the race - and the nerves surrounding it? - took a lot out of me!

But now it's time to get back at it. Tomorrow will be 4 or 5 miles with Aaron and Ali, and next week will be back to normally scheduled programming.

It's needed. Aaron noted that I seemed depressed last night - and I felt a little down too. Yesterday was a long day at work where I was working on mostly tedious things. And I have some more tedious stuff to do today, but I *must* mix in some other, more important research and writing. And we're heading to Parkersburg for the weekend where Aaron will do bike work, I'll do some admin stuff for GOTR and we'll play with our friends.

Honestly, it makes me a little nervous that I won't be running 13 miles before the next half, but I'll get over it. I don't have much time, and I want to feel strong, not fatigued. I know I can do the distance, so I should be okay. September's just crazy. After running over 100 miles in August, I can't believe that it's midway through the month, and I'm only at 31.63 miles for the month.

I just read a blog post about doing long runs by time rather than by distance. I don't think I'm a strong enough runner to do that if I'm training in particular for something, but I'm interested in trying that after next month's half. Although I am not scheduling another half after Towpath (next half will probably be in May), I want to continue doing long runs on the weekend. Maybe doing a 90-minute or 2-hour run might be the way to go?

What I am doing after Towpath is creating a training plan to prepare me for the Thanksgiving 4-miler that I did last year. I did it in under 44 minutes last year, and I want to break 40 this year. It's a hilly course, but I think I can do it! I just need to train better for hills and for speed. Without focusing on building up distances, I should be able to get stronger and faster.

A side note: One could argue that I should be cross-training more, but I'm not really interested in doing another kind of cardio on a regular basis. Strength-training interests me, although I've strained my right shoulder, so I'm giving that a break until next week. I should ride my bicycle more though; maybe after Towpath, I'll feel like I have more time. Probably not. I'm not really a go-go-go person; I need my downtime.